Mathematical Methods in Counterterrorism

Abstracts

Knowledge to Action: DHS's Challenge for the Mathematical Community

Jennifer O'Connor
Human Factors/Behavioral Sciences Division
Science and Technology Directorate
Department of Homeland Security

Abstract:

DHS S&T Human Factors/Behavioral Sciences Division is charged with bringing new technology and methods from the behavioral and social sciences to bear on the unique mission of the Department. Research, consequently, must show some promise of being instantiated into a 'product' DHS can use. One example of where mathematics has been applied to domestic terrorism is the Group Violent Intent Modeling (GVIM) project. This project challenged scientists to come up with new and innovative types of models for forecasting when a group might become violent. Under this project several different types of modeling efforts were assessed to include Bayesian, agent based and forward entity. Additionally, the challenge was to find ways to help analysts capture data they need, organize it ontologically, analyze it, and visualize the outputs. GVIM is but one example. The scientific community may have knowledge which could solve other on-going homeland security problems (geospatial pattern understanding, multicamera object tracking, etc.). DHS seeks your help figuring out what that knowledge is and where it might be applied.

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